The Real Story: The Frog Prince
by TheNeverendingDrumBeat
Summary: Based off of the original story by the Brother's Grimm and a piece of art that I no longer have the link for. WARNING: NOT A HAPPY ENDING! And so rated T . Written in April 2009


**Disclaimer: The following story is loosely based off of the original fairy tale "The Frog Prince" by the Brothers Grimm and a piece from Deviantart (which is no longer up and so I cannot provide a link). I own absolutely nothing except for the writing itself.**

I'm sure you've heard the fairy tale "The Frog Prince", sometime in your life, but you probably never heard the real story.

On her thirteenth birthday, Helen awoke to the sound of whispering outside her door. The girl clambered out of bed and opened the door to find no one there in the hall, but the sound had increased. The whispers stopped suddenly as she made her way down the stairs and walked toward the dining room. Without warning, the doors to the dining room burst open and loud shouts of "Happy Birthday" rang through the air. Helen laughed and embraced her family before sitting in the honorary birthday chair. Her parents gave her a small box wrapped in shimmering gold paper. Smiling, she opened the gift to find a beautiful golden ball engraved with swirls that connected to form her initials. After opening her gifts, the family ate their breakfast and then left Helen to do as she wished.

Outside, the sun had risen and warmed the country air. Helen, as she was accustomed to, walked along the path that ran through the forest nearby. The only thing she took with her was the golden ball she had just received. Because of its beauty and delicate nature, it had almost nearly become her prized possession. While in the woods, she grew bored of just walking and decided that she would toss the golden ball in the air, only a couple of inches from her hands. However, there was a loud screech, that came most probably from a large bird, that scared her, causing her to drop the ball. The beautiful item rolled and rolled until it fell into a pond nearby. Devastated, Helen dropped to the ground and searched feverishly for her ball. She saw a glittering object not too far in, but as she reached for it she saw that it was only a fish.

"If only I could find my ball, my beautiful new ball that my parents gave me," she cried, tears starting to stream down her face. Suddenly a wonderfully yellow frog hopped up to her and looked up with inquiring eyes.

"Hello little frog… I wish you could help me… I would give anything to have my golden ball back," she said, wiping her eyes and petting the frog lightly on its head. As if startled, the frog jumped sideways into the pond and disappeared. Helen could not bear losing her other golden treasure and looked once more into the pond, hoping to find her ball. When once more she could not see it, she slowly got up and brushed the knees of her skirt. "How will I tell mother?" she asked to no one in particular.

Before she could leave, she heard a croaking sound and found the frog had returned and his throat was bulging. As if choking, the frog started to cough before it released the golden ball that had disappeared and Helen was filled with joy.

"Oh! Oh froggy! You're a little prince you are!" she exclaimed, falling to her knees once more and scooping up both the frog and the ball. "Thank you, thank you so much," she said, kissing the frog in her exhilaration. The moment she did, she immediately regretted it; not because it was a dirty frog, rather because her tongue went numb and her mouth felt like it was in flames. She could not scream, and her fingers were difficult to move, but they enclosed painfully around the golden ball and frog. "_Oh naughty froggy… why did you help me only to kill me!?_" she thought, her throat closing, restricting her breathing. The frog only looked at her with black eyes as it too lost its breath. He seemed to say '_I did not ask for the kiss_'. Then the light went out in its eyes as the girl suffocated and too died.

Her body was found later that night when her parents went looking for their child. They were horrified to see the dead girl holding the precious gift and the dead frog. Helen's father cursed bitterly as he realized that the frog was a _Phyllobates terribilis_, or, Golden Dart Frog: the most poisonous vertebrate in the world.

Helen was buried the next day in a powder-blue dress, with both the frog and ball in her hands. The frog prince was always a lie: the kiss meant to break the spell only brought death.


End file.
